A local company has been chosen to create a series of animated films to be played in the new Rebellion Gallery at Nottingham Castle.

Bottletop, which is based within the Antenna Media Centre in Beck Street, saw off significant competition from across the country to land the contract at the iconic tourist attraction, which is currently undergoing a major refurbishment.

The company will now produce for the new Rebellion Gallery:

  • An introductory film giving an historical overview of Nottingham
  • Three animated films and three live-action narrator films telling key moments of revolt in the city’s history – the English Civil War, Luddite revolt and the Reform Act campaign of 1831 when the castle was set on fire
  • A ‘virtual mob’ film featuring Nottinghamshire rebels
  • Shorter visual pieces for accompanying screens

Bottletop went through a rigorous tender process where it had to show a creative interpretation of the brief and explain its vision for this part of the castle project.

Councillor Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture at Nottingham City Council, said: “It’s great that a Nottingham-based company has won this contract, but, make no mistake, they had to earn it because they were up against serious competition from across the country. It was a rigorous process.

“Bottletop’s creative excellence was clear from the start and we were very impressed with the way they embraced and understood the story of Nottingham’s rebellious past.

“We look forward to working with them over the next year ahead of the castle’s reopening in early 2021.”

Bottletop, which was founded in Nottingham in 2004 and has clients across the world, is an animation and video production studio in the heart of Nottingham’s Creative Quarter. It has worked on three BAFTA winning projects as well as winning an RTS award, D&AD Yellow Pencil and, more recently, a Drum Design Award for its animation work.

Mark Pyper, Creative Director at Bottletop, said: “We are delighted to have been selected to produce the video and animation for Nottingham Castle’s new Rebellion Gallery. It’s great to be working with the castle team to create a set of films which will entertain and inform visitors for years to come.”

Sara Blair-Manning, CEO of the Nottingham Castle Trust, said: “We’re really pleased that Bottletop has been awarded the contract. This latest success story follows on from new jobs being created as part of the construction stage of the project.

“Nottingham Castle Trust looks forward to working with Bottletop and also adding to these good local news stories as we start to recruit our operational teams in 2020.”

Stephen Barker, CEO of the Nottingham Creative Quarter, added: “It’s great to see an excellent Nottingham business winning castle project work. We have so many great creative and digital businesses in Nottingham, especially in the Creative Quarter, why look anywhere else?”

The Creative Quarter has recently launched CQ Finder which helps businesses to find local companies that specialise in creative and digital services. More detail here https://www.creativequarter.com/cqfinder